Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 43

In late April, René emailed me about a new vintage fountain pen he'd recently acquired. His email began with "E-bay and self-isolation is a bad combination!" (something I think many of us can relate to!) and went on to describe the condition of the pen, as well as the restoration it required. A few weeks later, René's fountain pen came back in fully-restored condition, so he emailed some photos of it for our virtual "show & tell". Without further ado, here it is...

(all photos courtesy of René ~ please click on images to enlarge)

In René's words: "This is a "wood grain" flat top Eclipse from the later 20s. Unlike most "wood grain" pens of the era, which are usually hard rubber, this one is plastic, but they did a magnificent job of simulating the pattern with it, and this is a gorgeous pen."

"It was made in the USA (as it says on the clip) and has the Klein-style clip of post-1923, as well as the iconic Eclipse laurel wreath at the end of the lever. The lack of a cap ring makes it look like it's a single piece of wood when capped or posted."

"It came to me with the body in excellent shape, but it needed a new sac (of course), the feed was cracked, and the nib was a poor-quality Warranted 14kt gold one with minor damage. Christopher Robertson restored it and fitted it with a Canadian 14kt Eclipse nib, and it's now a beautiful, wonderful writer."

Nice restoration job, Christopher! Congratulations on another great vintage pen, René, and thanks for sharing your find with us :)